Ouch! You have got to be kidding me

What the hell? RSL knocked out of the Open Cup by who?, New Mexico United?

Why am I not surprised?

(ksl.com 5-8-24)

New Mexico makes RSL 1-and-done in Open Cup with 4-2 loss

Real Salt Lake was eliminated in the Round of 32 of the U.S. Open Cup Wednesday in New Mexico after making it all the way to the semifinals last year.

USL Championship side New Mexico United took it to the No. 1 team in the MLS Western Conference early on their home turf of Isotope Field with two goals in the opening 20 minutes and a 3-1 halftime lead.

"We completely tuned out," head coach Pablo Mastroeni said of the early goals. "The emotion is like, 'Poor me,' and when you operate from that space, you can never think reasonably."

Fidel Barajas got his first goal in an RSL uniform for the lone score in the first half, and Diego Luna got the second-and-final goal for the Claret and Cobalt in the 49th minute.

Luna's strike just minutes into the second half made it a single-score game, 3-2, but Jacobo Reyes ended all hopes of an RSL comeback with New Mexico's fourth goal in the 85th minute.

RSL made six changes to its starting lineup in its first Open Cup fixture, granting Zavier Gozo, Tommy Silva and Philip Quinton their first starts at the club.

"I think Fidel and Luna in particular did really well," Mastroeni said. "I think Tommy Silva did a good job and Gozo helped create that first goal before he got knocked in the head. So from that part, I think there's some experience gained."

Leading scorer Chicho Arango came off the bench in the 82nd minute to try and find an equalizer, but Reyes shut that door three minutes later as the second-division squad secured a win in its first-ever matchup against RSL.

The schedule doesn't get any easier for RSL following the loss, traveling to the third-place team in the West on Saturday in a classic clash against the LA Galaxy.

https://www.ksl.com/article/51007183/new-mexico-makes-rsl-1-and-done-in-open-cup-with-4-2-loss

Utah NHL hockey team names... I had to chuckle

So I went onto the website for the Utah's new NHL hockey team because I heard you could vote for the team name.

That is a good way to get the fans involved so I applaud their effort. The only bad thing is you are getting the fans involved and if the fans want a dumb Saturday morning cartoon kind of a name you might just get it. 

On the other hand, had Dave Checketts let the fans decide on the name for the new soccer team back in 2005 we would now be cheering for the Salt Lake City Highlanders instead of Real SL. 

Remember, nobody liked the name "Real Salt Lake" when it was leaked in the SL Tribune that that was one of the names Checketts was considering. (The others were the Highlanders, the Alliance, and Glory.)

Everyone liked Highlanders, but Checketts wanted to try and woo Real Madrid into a partnership, tv deal, etc. etc. So Real Salt Lake it is.

Anyway, back to hockey.

Most of the names are awful. "The Frost, the Blast, the Fury" Ugh... lame.

But I had to chuckle a little when I saw one of the names, the Utah Freeze. 

Do they not know we've had a Utah Freeze before? 

C'mon man, indoor soccer !!!

I went to a few of their games over their 3 year existence. It wasn't bad, it was indoor soccer, so what can you expect. 

Their attendance was pretty good though, averaging 5,700 roughly a game. 

Hopefully nobody votes for that name, let the Freezz always be Utah's indoor soccer legacy.

Back to hockey, I voted for "the Mountaineers, or the Black Diamonds."

You can't say those are Saturday morning cartoon names. I got a bad feeling though we will end up with a cartoon name. We shall see.

If you want to vote, go here: https://nhlinutah.com/